Affirm Truth

AffirmTruth.org is a Christian, evangelical, theologically conservative, and non-denominational ministry, based out of Chennai, India.

Month: December 2020

Miracles – for real or just for the reel?

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Not long ago we had a movie released here which portrayed miracles and healings as completely scripted and fake, everything was just showbiz and a means to make a fortune for some.It’s a sad reality that such tricksters and frauds do exist and try to deceive many people with their counterfeit miracles.

It is hence, also true that some people take the name of the Lord in vain for their own benefit.But, this is not something new that it should surprise us.Throughout the Bible, we see such people and Jesus warns us ahead of time against them.

Mathew 24:24 – For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Acts 8:20 – Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!

1 John 4:1 – Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

2 Thessalonians 2:9 – The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing.

we see that such false teachers, sorcerers, wizards, witches and magicians were there even during that time, trying to mislead the people.God alone is Omnipotent – almighty and able to do all things beyond what any “gods” of this world can duplicate.

We need to be aware of the means by which the miracle happens and not blinded by the result. The end result does not justify the means, but the means should justify itself.

Let us be wise and discern such people and not fall into any such deception. 1John 4:1-3, James 1:5


So, having said the above, we come to some basic questions:

  1. Are miracles for real or just hyped up stories that are hollow inside?
  2. Are they the most important factor of the Christian faith and all that it comes down to?
  3. Can we conclude about a local church solely based on the healings and miracles that happen there?


The answer would have to be – not really!
There is much more to the church of God than just miracles. Miracles are God’s witness to His word. They do not replace the word nor do they subsume the word. Signs and wonders are not the power of God unto salvation, but they testify to salvation.
The word of God is what brings salvation as stated clearly by Paul.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

Romans 1:16

So, if a church is all about miracles without proper teaching from the word, then something is wrong there and needs to be checked.
Kathryn Kuhlman was an American evangelist known for hosting healing services. She said that the biggest miracle that she had witnessed was this – “the salvation of a soul”. When a sinner realizes the need for a savior and accepts Jesus into his life and believes that God has forgiven his sins, a miracle takes place on the inside of that person which is beyond the miracles we can witness with our naked eyes.


“What is more important? – that you see miracles and get what you want in this life or you learn the word of God and understand that there is more to life than this world and all its needs ?“

If everything you need is in this world and nothing beyond it, then what do you really gain? Mark 8:36- What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?


So, what is it that can save you?

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

James 1:21


Can it be that there is proper teaching of the word and still no miracles happening in a church? There definitely will be miracles in a church where the word is being taught and preached in the correct way because the word of God is powerful to bring about change. We do not have to enhance it in anyway. There is nothing anyone can do to make it less or more powerful. It is what is it – the word of God! Not the skill or ability of the preacher but simply that the Word is powerful in itself!


1 Thessalonians 2:13 – “And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.”
Isaiah 55:11- so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Psalm 107:20 – He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.
1 Corinthians 1:18 – For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

We see Jesus was always eager to teach His disciples when He was with them. He did miracles out of compassion and love for the people, which was part and parcel of their lifestyle, but He was more focused on teaching them about the Kingdom of God and what they need to be doing to build it. Miracles were an outcome of what they were learning and practicing. It was not the focus of their ministry. The focus is to learn and have a relationship with God. Miracles can be a tool by which the nonbeliever comes to believe in God.


Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.

John 14:11


Not to get awed and run behind miracles but rather to run behind God and miracles will follow because it is a way in which God bears witness to His word among us.


Professor Wayne Grudem defines Miracle as:
“A less common way of God’s working in which He arouses awe and wonder in people and bears witness to Himself.”


As much as I can quote a bunch of miracles from the Bible (the 4 gospel accounts gives us around 37 miracles of Jesus that have been recorded and mentions that others have not been recorded because there were just too many -John 20:30, Luke 7:21), wouldn’t it be interestingif we can look at sources outside the Bible as well?


Like the Bible, the Quran mentions Jesus healing the blind and the lepers in al-Imran (3) 49. Muslim scholar and judge al-Baydawi (d. 1286) wrote how it was recorded that many thousands of people came to Jesus to be healed, and that Jesus healed these diseases through prayer only.


Roman historian, soldier and senator – Marcus Velleius Paterculus describes a scene that he allegedly witnessed, in which a prophet and teacher that he names Iēsous de Nazarenus, resuscitated a stillborn boy and handed him back to his mother.


1st-century Jewish Historian Josephus who identified with the Pharisees states the below about Jesus:
“At this time, there appeared Jesus, a wise man. He was a doer of startling deeds, a teacher of people who receive the truth with pleasure. And he gained a following among many Jews and among many of Greek origin. When Pilate, because of an accusation by the leading men among us, condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him previously did not cease to do so. And up until this very day the tribe of Christians, named after Him, has not died out.”

The miracles of Jesus are the supernatural deeds attributed to Jesus in Christian, Islamic and historical texts. The majority are faith healing, exorcisms, resurrection, control over nature and forgiveness of sins.


Why did Jesus do all the miracles he did?

Fame?

Time and again we see Jesus telling the people He healed not to spread the news. Jesus did not want them to spread the news about healings because crowds of people came to Him just to get healed and their focus was only on the immediate benefits.
John 6:26 – Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.
But Jesus came to teach and preach about the gospel and the Kingdom of God. Many a times Jesus and His disciples had to withdraw from the crowds so that He could teach them.
Luke 4:18 – “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
Mark 7:36 -Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it.

Money?

One characteristic shared among all miracles of Jesus in the Gospel accounts is that he delivered benefits freely and never requested or accepted any form of returns for his healing miracles.
Mathew 10:8 – Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
Jesus was moved by compassion, by the faith of the people, when He did a miracle.
He never did a miracle for His own benefit but for the need of the people.


so what does all this have to do with me?


Jesus does miracles and rightly so because He is God!
well, let’s try and break this down a little.
If you believe in Jesus – that He died for your sins and that God the Father raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved! (Romans 10:9)


saved from? – sin – a condition where you are a slave to your flesh and its desires and not able to live life to its fullest meaning by having a relationship with the Creator(Ephesians 2:1-3)


saved by ? – grace through faith in Jesus ! – no, not by your good deeds!No good deed is or will ever be good enough to reconcile you back to God the Father, which is exactly why Jesus died for you and me.(Ephesians 2:7-9)


so, when you are saved you become a son/ daughter of God. Now this makes you a co-heir with Jesus. (Romans 8:14-15)
Now if you are co-heirs then you can operate in the same Spirit and authority with which Jesus operated.
Romans 8:11, NLT: “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”
John 14:12-14-2 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.


“This means that all the miracles that Jesus did can be done through us because of the same Spirit that can work through us – The Holy Spirit.” – 1 Corinthians 6:17 says , But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit
The word tells us that we are one in spirit with Him. Therefore, the authority that we see in the life of Jesus is the authority that we have been given. only if we believe that God can use us – in all our brokenness and weakness, for the display of His glory. (1 Corinthians 1:27)

Miracles are not for the glorification of a person or organization, rather it is God displaying His power to us who believe in Him.

Ephesians 1:19-20

“If you believe in God, then miracles will be something you witness in your life too. It is not because of any power that you have but rather God’s power on display for you.When we experience miracles in our own lives, we must be careful. Sometimes telling others will encourage them to find out the truth about Jesus for themselves. But sometimes it will lead to bitterness when God does not give them exactly what they want. We need to have the wisdom from above to know the difference and sent out the right message – It is not the miracle we are to sought but God who does the miracle.”


Over the years, I have experienced and witnessed miracles in my life which I can share about. But what’s better than experiencing them for yourselves! Trust God to see a miracle in your life as you follow Him – The Miracle Worker!

Was Jesus born on December 25th?

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There have been speculations in the recent past about the birth date of Jesus. And also, a vast majority of people wonder if it really matters at all. But what is the truth? Do we have any clues, data or facts to arrive at some valid conclusion?

Let us look at history a bit for facts leading this discussion –

a) Jesus’ birth date of 25th December was first claimed way back in 3rd century by Hyppolytus (ca. 170-236).
b) The first calendar that mentioned this date was Philoclian Calendar, representing Roman practice, of the year 336.
c) Cyril of Jerusalem, or St. Cyril of Jerusalem, was a bishop who presided over the See of Jerusalem in the fourth century AD (348-386) had access to the original Roman birth census, which also documented that Jesus was born on the 25th of December.
d) The date became the officially recognized date for Christmas in part because it coincided with the pagan festivals celebrating Saturnalia and the winter solstice.
e) Some argue that the birth occurred in some other season, such as in the fall and not in the winter of December 25th. Followers of this theory claim that the Judean winters were too cold for shepherds to be watching their flocks by night.
f) But some do claim that historical evidence that unblemished lambs for the Temple sacrifice were in fact kept in the fields near Bethlehem during the winter months.

With that said, it is impossible to prove whether or not Jesus was born on December 25. The facts speak for themselves and leave a grey area with clouded information.

But the question we should really ask is, “does it really matter?” For example, we all know about the Prime Minister of our country –his values, his opinions, his passion and his influence are indeed public knowledge. But how many of us do know his birth date. Is the person important or the birth date?

In the same way ultimately it does not matter when Jesus was born but why he was born is more important a question to answer for all us.

If we take the Bible where the important life events of Jesus are exhaustively captured, one thing is very clear. If God really wanted us to know the exact date of our Savior’s birth, He would have certainly told us in the scripture. The Gospel of Luke is one most widely acknowledged gospels written by a Doctor who just didn’t go by hearing or seeing but validating each and every event that Jesus was part of. He in his Gospel inspired by the Holy Spirit of God wrote specific details of the birth of Christ like:

And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” [Describes how Baby Jesus will be wrapped in swaddled clothes and where he will be kept in a manger]

Luke 1:12 (ESV)

So what do we get out of Jesus birth?

Luke captured these details because these details are important as they speak of Jesus’s nature and character, (meek and lowly). Surprisingly, he doesn’t mention anything about the precise date of His birth and this shows that it might have no significance whatsoever, which may be why God chose not to have it recorded.

The fact is that He was born, that He came into the world to save us and atone for our sins, (Matthew 1:20, 21), that He was resurrected to eternal life, and that He’s alive today (Luke 24:6-7). That is what Christmas celebration is all about!

Old testament captures the call to celebrate even before the birth of Christ:

Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord.

Zechariah 2:10 (ESV)

Also when the Angels visited the shepherds to announce Jesus’ birth,

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Luke 2:10 (ESV)

So it’s not just on the Christmas day should we be celebrating Jesus Christ. But we are called to a lifestyle of celebration – celebrating everyday and not just once every year.

Some other References :

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/12/24/why-is-christmas-on-dec-25-it-wasnt-always/

https://www.crosswalk.com/special-coverage/christmas-and-advent/was-jesus-really-born-on-dec-25.html

Question: I am a Christian, can I watch movies/series?

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From Affirm Truth,

It’s a great question for the current generation to ponder. We want to encourage and say that the above question we face is very common among believers and at some point in our lives we all wrestle with such questions and decisions to make.

A movie/ series is a just a story portrayed on screen. Just like how we are writing this content to you, a movie on screen is just words/ messages conveyed by moving pictures. It is God who has given us this ability to creatively think via our imagination and produce movies converting thoughts into audiovisuals.

Now just like information, thought, content, values and knowledge, a story too can be either good or beneficial or harmful or evil. So it is our responsibility as believers to discern and evaluate a movie before watching it.

Today there are so many ways in the internet to learn about the movie before we can decide to actually watch it. A good practice for a believer is to always ask this question – “can I watch this movie with Jesus sitting next to me?” Almost always the Spirit of God in us will convict and prompt us to take the right decision. And it is wise and godly to stand your ground and reject the temptation to watch a film which is not suitable and would not honour the presence of the Lord.

Secondly, Ephesians 5:15-16 states, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (ESV). A Christian should consider the amount of time spent on movies. We should ask ourselves whether spending a certain amount of time will be the best use of our time and if it will help me grow spiritually or personally. Because we must seek to honour the Lord even during the leisure time.

Thirdly, we should remember a movie can be instructing, influential, entertaining and/or inspirational. We are given complete freedom in Christ to watch the movies we want to but, we need to remember that we are given this freedom so that we embrace only what is good and reject what is bad.

1 Corinthians 10:23 says, “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. (ESV)

Also, we must take care not to let this freedom disturb other believers (Rom 14:13). Romans 14 calls for mature believers to not be a stumbling block to a fellow believer if they have a different conviction on matters like this and negatively affect their Christian witness.

Finally, we would also encourage you to join us to pray for godly producers and directors to rise up and make movies that would uplift and encourage people, reflect biblical values, provide hope, increase faith and bring glory to God. Today in our community some tend to address movies or film producers as evil. Media platform offers a tremendous opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and make disciples of all nations. Jesus said the harvest is plenty but labourers are few. So we should encourage the film industry and constantly pray for them to be used by God.

“In conclusion, Christians are not prohibited to watch movies but are called to be discerning in picking the appropriate movies and deciding how many movies we watch would make best use of our time.”

Question: As a Christian should I attend social drinking parties even though I do not drink?

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From Affirm Truth,

Really good question. The short answer to the question would be “it depends on the party you are planning to attend.”

As human beings we are designed and created as social beings. And as Christians we have a greater desire to fellowship with people. The Greek word translated “fellowship” in the New Testament is koinonia, which means “partnership, participation, social interaction, and communication.”

In 1 John 1:7, John tells us that, as believers, we have fellowship with one another by virtue of the blood Jesus shed for us on the cross.

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (ESV)

The problem with the parties mentioned in the question is that they are not always a fellowship party. In fact, if there is a party which is focused on Christian fellowship, we don’t even have to ask whether we should attend it. But if a party involves alcohol, drugs, and other immoral or illegal activity it is better to not get involved. The bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Moreover, parties in which sinful activities occur even if you are not an active participant, weakens our witness and brings reproach on the name of Christ.

Now coming to professions and for the need of having social interactions to build contacts, customer satisfaction, finishing a deal, team building and team outing, the question that really comes up is will such parties give you a platform to be professional and will it give you any opportunity to witness Christ and have a fellowship with the people you are participating with. Often times such parties could make us compromise our life in Christ and witness to the world. Even though we can resolve within us to be in control to not involve in anything immoral in the party, as a believer it is wise to not open one self to temptation. So our humble suggestion would be to evaluate, discern and prayerfully listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit before taking a decision to attend such parties.

1 Peter 5:8 says, Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And Matthew 5:16 says, “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Finally, concerning our relationship with people of the world, Apostle Paul reasons 1 Corinthians 5:9-10, that, “9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.” We are called to be in the world yet not of the world. It is okay to be friends as long as those relationships do not affect those friendships with God (James 4:4). Friends can significantly influence our lives— for better or for worse! So we must wisely choose our friends and maintain healthy boundaries within our friendship.